On Friday, Aug. 21, just before the Fall 2026 semester began, faculty and staff gathered for the Fall Opening Convocation and departmental meetings.
During the convocation, President Geoffrey Mearns and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Anand Marri presented the annual University Faculty Awards, three of which went to faculty from CCIM: Kate Elliott, Dr. Laura O’Hara and Benjamin Strack.
Associate lecturer in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication Kate Elliott received the Excellence in Teaching Award. This award is given to faculty members for their innovation, talent, and dedication in the classroom. As a finalist, Elliott made a plan to enhance NEWS 233: Specialized Story Forms by increasing engagement with community partners, incorporating a project-management system, and strengthening students’ understanding and use of accessibility across media formats.
Dr. Laura O’Hara, Professor in The Department of Communication Studies, was recognized with the Outstanding Faculty Service Award. Dr. O’Hara received this award for her exceptional professional service to the University, her profession, and the community. The award also recognized her support to CCIM in various roles with the positive, energetic, and community-minded approach she always brings.
Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Media Benjamin Strack was the recipient of the Outstanding Advisor Award which is given to an advisor who contributes exceptionally to students’ experiences beyond the classroom. Strack’s mentorship is exemplified by his leadership of Radiance Cinema, which grew from a single course into a comprehensive program combining instruction with extensive, hands-on mentorship. Each spring, Radiance Cinema produces approximately five to eight short films, with Strack mentoring students throughout filming and post-production.
After the Convocation, CCIM faculty and staff gathered in the Letterman Lobby, where CCIM’s Dean, Dr. Kristen McCauliff, announced this year’s Faculty Award winners.
These winners represent the commitment to excellence that all faculty and staff in CCIM demonstrate daily.
CCIM Empowerment Award: Bob Rickner
Manager of University Media Services Engineering
The CCIM Empowerment Award recognizes someone who doesn’t simply assist with college efforts, but goes above and beyond to help us soar. This year’s recipient is Bob Rickner, Manager of University Services Engineering, who has certainly earned his wings for all he does for CCIM and Public Media!
Bob tells you exactly what he thinks. He’ll tell you when something is going to be difficult, and he’ll tell you when the budget doesn’t allow for the easy solution. But then he figures out how to make it work anyway. He routinely comes in on the weekends, stays after the building is empty, troubleshoots problems, goes into rural buildings that are filled with water, and finds creative solutions so our facilities have what they need. At the end of the day, each of these efforts help not only faculty and staff, but CCIM students.
One great example involved testing a sports app developed through a collaboration among an outside vendor. When something that worked perfectly the day before suddenly stopped working, Bob would show up to figure it out, sometimes on a Saturday while he was out running errands.
Most recently, when WCRD had an antenna issue and was under a tight deadline, Rickner and his team got the station back on the air for a minimal cost. He has also been instrumental in getting PBS back up on the air when the building with the transmitter took on extensive water. Rickner is always the person who immediately starts looking for solutions. He is a problem-solver, a budget magician, and a tremendous advocate for our students.
Outstanding Teacher Award: Max Van Dongen
Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Media
The Outstanding Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member who embodies excellence in teaching, academic integrity, innovation, and discovery. This year’s recipient is Max Van Dongen from the Department of Media. Although he is still early in his career, he has already made quite an impression.
Van Dongen is entering his fourth year at Ball State, and in each of his first three years, students have nominated him for the University’s Excellence in Teaching Award. He has been a finalist all three years, which tells us something very important — his students notice what he is doing, and they like what they see.
Van Dongen builds his classes around real-world, project-based experiences. Whether students are in a 100-level course or a 400-level course, he wants them to experience the creativity, collaboration, decision-making, and challenges they’ll encounter after graduation. He cares deeply about integrity, particularly in his ethics courses, where he balances grace and understanding with meaningful academic expectations.
Van Dongen has also turned the Media department’s social media presence into another learning environment, giving students real experience in planning, creating, and promoting content. In MDIA 115, he celebrates student work by sharing it with the broader Ball State community.
Distinguished Researcher Award: Dr. Firoz Khan
Assistant Professor in Center for Information and Communication Sciences
This year, Dr. Firoz Khan is the recipient of the Distinguished Researcher Award which recognizes exceptional progress in advancing knowledge in communication, information, or technology. Dr. Khan, Assistant Professor in the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, has built an impressive research portfolio across some of the most important and complicated areas of technology today.
Dr. Khan’s research spans artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, health informatics, networking, blockchain, Industry 5.0, and privacy-preserving machine learning. What connects his work is a clear purpose: making digital systems more secure, intelligent, explainable, and useful.
His scholarship has appeared in respected international publications and professional organizations, including IEEE, “Nature,” CRC Press, and John Wiley & Sons. Dr. Khan’s recent research addresses smart grids, IoT (Internet of Things) security, quantum-inspired optimization, sustainable Industry 5.0, smart cities, and digital twins. Dr. Khan also actively shares his research through international conferences and collaborations across computing, engineering, healthcare, sustainability, and other disciplines.
Importantly, his scholarship involves students. He supervises graduate assistants, mentors students in research and professional development, and brings emerging technologies directly into graduate education. His work strengthens not only his own research profile, but that of CICS and CCIM.
Community Connections Award: Dr. Beth Messner
Associate Professor in Communication Studies
At CCIM, we believe our relationship with the community should be a partnership. One built on time, effort, intention, and a lot of hard work. This year’s recipient embodies that philosophy beautifully: Dr. Beth Messner from the Department of Communication Studies!
For more than 15 years, Dr. Messner has been an integral member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Dream Team, where she leads the annual Black History Month celebration, manages the Carey Community Service Award program, and facilitates public history programs. Perhaps most impressive is the way she has transformed community engagement into meaningful learning for her students.
The Freedom Bus and Journey to Freedom exhibit began as immersive learning projects led by Dr. Messner and her students. They continued developing those projects long after the original class ended. Today, the Journey to Freedom exhibit educates audiences throughout our community. Dr. Messner also takes students into the community to experience history firsthand, including trips to the Levi and Catharine Coffin Interpretive Center and tours exploring Muncie’s African American history.
Dr. Messner’s work has resulted in publications, presentations, grant funding, and new opportunities for community-engaged learning. She also mentors graduate students who want to develop their own community partnerships. Dr. Messner’s commitment extends beyond Ball State through her service to and advocacy for the Riverside-Normal City Neighborhood Association.
High Technology Award: Alex Lukens
Associate Lecturer in School of Journalism and Strategic Communication
The High Technology Award recognizes innovative uses of technology in teaching and curriculum design that positively impacts student learning. This year’s recipient, Alex Lukens, has spent a decade making sure technology isn’t simply something students use, but something they understand, create with, and use to solve real problems.
Lukens has played a foundational role in coordinating and advancing Ball State’s Digital Media Minor. Across courses in digital design, video, sound, storytelling, and design thinking, Alex creates project-based experiences that immerse students in professional software, digital workflows, and emerging technologies.
What makes his work especially valuable is that technology is never the point simply for technology’s sake. For Lukens, technology is a tool for creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation. Students leave his courses with professional portfolios, practical skills, and the confidence to apply new technologies to real communication challenges. Alex also brings his own professional creative work into the classroom, keeping his teaching connected to an industry that changes constantly.
His leadership extends beyond his courses as well. He has chaired the Non-Tenure-Line Promotion Committee, supported faculty conversations about instructional technology, expanded online and asynchronous course offerings, and incorporated open educational resources to help reduce student costs. Many of us benefit from his expertise through productions such as the SJSC annual awards luncheon and Louie’s live stream.
Professionalism Award: Dr. Betsy Pike
Associate Chair and Associate Professor in Department of Media
This year’s recipient of the Professionalism Award is Dr. Betsy Pike from the Department of Media! This award recognizes leadership and service that embody CCIM’s values of ethical behavior, innovation, discovery, collaboration, and empowerment. Dr. Pike demonstrates those qualities in a way that is both highly effective and consistently kind.
Dr. Pike leads by example and is always looking for ways to improve how we work. This year, her ideas helped create a new structure for departmental leadership committees and meetings, including the establishment of the Media Curriculum Committee, which focuses on organizing, developing, and assessing courses and concentrations.
Her effectiveness isn’t simply about having good ideas, it is about how she works with people to make those ideas happen. Dr. Pike listens, welcomes suggestions, and creates an environment where people feel comfortable contributing. Some from CCIM say Betsy may be one of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Since returning to the Department of Media, she has quickly become an essential part of their leadership team, serving as Associate Chair and chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee. One of her greatest strengths is her ability to remain calm when everyone else is tempted to panic. She slows things down, looks at the big picture, and helps her team think strategically.
Inclusive Excellence Award: Dr. Luis Orozco
Assistant Professor in Center for Information and Communication Sciences
In CCIM, we believe inclusive excellence should be part of everything we do: in teaching, research, service, and especially in the opportunities we create for our students and communities. This year’s recipient of the Inclusive Excellence Award doesn’t simply support that philosophy – he puts it into action and lives it: Dr. Luis Orozco from CICS!
Dr. Orozco has built an impressive record of connecting students, communities, and technology. Through his Civic Symposium session on Lateral Reading and Artificial Intelligence, he helped community members learn practical ways to identify misinformation and use AI responsibly.
He has also created important professional pathways for students. Dr. Orozco has established and strengthened relationships with 24 local companies and connected students with 40 local information and communication sciences managers through his “Shadow an ICS Manager” initiative. He also offers LinkedIn and professional-branding workshops, helping students develop the social capital they need to pursue internships and careers.
His community partnerships includes work with TechPoint Youth at the Indiana Robotics State Championship and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, where students address authentic community questions rather than simply completing classroom projects. Dr. Orozco’s scholarship further reinforces this commitment, exploring topics including Hispanic businesses and digital resilience as well as the role of community partners as co-educators. Dr. Orozco understands that inclusion is not simply opening a door, it is helping people know the door is there and giving them the tools to walk through it.
Extraordinary Service Award: Terry Heifetz
Senior Lecturer in Department of Media
The Extraordinary Service Award recognizes individuals who contribute to Ball State and our communities through effective, efficient, and dedicated service. This year, the recipient of this award is Terry Heifetz!
Just about every project Heifetz takes on has a connection to service. As advisor to NewsLink Indiana, Delaware County’s only television news program, he helps students produce journalism that serves the information needs of our community. Along those lines, serving as instructor for the producing class behind Cardinal Compass, Heifetz works with students to highlight community events and projects alongside Ball State President Geoff Mearns. In both cases, the work is about more than producing media. It is about serving the community while giving students authentic professional experience.
He also serves as the college representative on the Non-Tenure-Line Committee and participates in college and university mentoring programs. Somehow, Heifetz manages to do all of this while maintaining one of the busiest teaching schedules in the college.
Students appreciate Heifetz even when they discover that Media Law may not be their favorite class. He combines grace and understanding with academic rigor and uses real-world, project-based assignments to prepare students for the profession. He is simply someone CCIM can count on.
Dean’s Faculty Award: Matt Lowe
School of Journalism and Strategic Communication Assistant Director and Assistant Lecturer
This year’s Dean’s Faculty Award recipient is Matt Lowe! Lowe is now moving onto a Non-Tenure faculty line where he’ll also serve SJSC as the Assistant Director. Even as Project Manager in SJSC, his job was truly rooted in student success and he taught extensively. From arranging and hosting visits with local schools, supporting EMDD graduation students, putting on events in SJSC where students, faculty and staff feel seen and honored — Lowe always does things at 110%.
A particular noteworthy element of his work: Lowe brings a sense of cultural competence and emotional intelligence to his work that fosters a sense of belonging for our international students. It is obvious when you are around the students that they feel comfortable not only asking for help but celebrating the unique strengths they bring as international students.
Another highlight is Lowe’s work on events. He is detailed oriented yet funny and tuned into the experience of the events. Lowe has been dedicated to elevating the experience of attending the Journalism Luncheon, the Schranz lecture, and the Louie awards. All of those that attend or present always know each detail related to the event. And his vision has helped us better engage both internal and external stakeholders!
Blog by Amelia Harker (Strategic Communication: Public Relations ’27)
Photos by Emma Gsell (Photojournalism ’25 & EMDD ’27)